Somali pirates are preparing to release the Marida Marguerite chemical tanker operated by Germany’s W-O Shipping Group , after they received a ransom of $ 5.5 million, RIA Novosti reports citing Germany's DPA news agency.
The 13,000-ton vessel with the crew of 22 was captured on May 120 miles south of the Omani port of Salalah in a protected shipping corridor. The mixed crew includes 19 Indians, two citizens of Bangladesh and one Ukrainian.
"We got our money, they were airdropped on (Monday) morning. Our people are preparing to leave the vessel," said Khalif Dahir, who called himself the leader of a group that hijacked the tanker.
According to the London-based International Maritime Bureau (IMB), the number of pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden decreased in the first half of 2010 by about 20% year-on-year mostly due to the ongoing anti-piracy operation off the Somali coast.
However, Somali pirates have been reported to shift their attacks from their own coast and were responsible for 44% of the 289 piracy incidents on the world's seas in the first nine months of 2010, according to IMB.